Zoo and Conservation Science

Program Option

Program Overview

This interdisciplinary concentration prepares students in a liberal arts tradition for entry level positions leading to leadership positions in zoos and conservation organizations. Coursework in this concentration is strongly interdisciplinary, drawing upon biology, psychology, and environmental science classes. Students develop technical and quantitative skills including laboratory and field methods, statistical analysis, and professional communication. Hands-on experience is a key component of this concentration. The program includes a sophomore practicum and a junior-year internship; this provides real-world experience in zoo and conservation settings and connect students with ongoing projects at the Blank Park Zoo and the Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative, both of which are Drake partners located in Des Moines.

Drake’s Zoo and Conservation Science concentration is distinguished by its fundamental interdisciplinarity, emphasis on field experiences, opportunities for research and independent study, and service learning approach in the practicum and internship sequence. (This concentration is available only to students majoring in Biology, Environmental Science, Psychology, or Neuroscience.) Graduates of the program will be well prepared to work in work in the areas of animal behavior, wildlife rehabilitation, and animal conservation, or to pursue graduate study in diverse fields of zoological and environmental sciences.

Zoo and Conservation Science Concentration

The concentration requires completion of at least 15 credit hour that are not counted toward any other major, minor, or concentration. The distribution of credits among departments varies due to cross-listing of courses.

Course

Credits

BIO 012 - General/Pre-Professional Biology I

3

BIO 012L - General/Pre-Professional Biology I Lab

1

CHEM 001 - General Chemistry I

3

CHEM 003 - General Chemistry I Lab

1

PSY 001 - Introduction to Psychology

4

BIO 025/PSY 024 - Animal Behavior

3

BIO 026/ENSP 026 - Ethological Methods

3

BIO 063/ENSP 063 - Zoo Biology

3

ENSP 054/SCSR 065 - Environmental Communication

3

BIO 018 - Anatomy & Physiology

3

BIO 018L - Anatomy & Physiology Lab

1

BIO 101 - Comparative Anatomy

3

BIO 101L - Comparative Anatomy Lab

1

BIO 091 - Understanding Evolution, or

BIO 114 and BIO 114L - Evolution with Lab

3

4

BIO 125/ENSP 125 - Conservation Biology

4

PSY 120 and PSY 121 - Conditioning and Learning with Lab, or

PSY 060 - Principles of Behavior

4

3

PSY 123 - Biological Basis of Behavior with Lab, or

BIO 117 and BIO 118L - Ecology with Lab

4

5

BIO 099 - Research and Statistical Methods, or

PSY 010 - Research Methods and PSY 011 - Intro to Statistics

3

7

BIO 109/ENSP 109/PSY 190 - Zoo Practicum

2

BIO 159/ENSP 159/PSY 192 - Zoo Internship

3

BIO 197/ENSP 197/PSY 192 - Senior Research

In case of higher-than-permitted duplication of coursework with other programs in which a student is enrolled, or in other appropriate circumstances, the following courses may serve as substitutes or additions, subject to the approval of the program coordinator.